Publication: Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Europe and Central Asia
Loading...
Date
2011-01
ISSN
Published
2011-01
Editor(s)
Abstract
The present study generates a specialized dataset of road sector contracts for Bank-financed projects in 14 countries of Europe and Central Asia. The data sample covers 200 completed or ongoing road works contracts signed between 2000 and 2010. Trends for each country are captured through the following indicators: (i) difference between contract values and their engineers' estimates; (ii) cost overruns; (iii) time overruns; (iv) bidding indicators for contracts with and without prequalification: number of firms that applied for prequalification, number of prequalified firms, number of firms that bought bidding documents, number of bidders, number of disqualified bidders; (v) time elapsed between bid opening and contract signing dates; (vi) cost per kilometer of similar works; (vii) road works unit costs; and (viii) ratios between supervision contract values and the related road works contract values. An inventory of risks is developed for each road works contract using a checklist of possible entry points of corrupt activities or red flags. The frequency of observations is measured for the selected types of red flags from a sample of 200 road works contracts surveyed. The contracts with complaints received by the Bank's Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) are examined separately to check if they exhibit a pattern of indicators consistent with the presence of allegations of corruption or fraud. The study looks further into the determinants of road rehabilitation and reconstruction costs. It concludes with selected recommendations to sustain the platform fostering governance and integrity in the procurement and implementation of road sector contracts under Bank-funded operations.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Alexeeva, Victoria; Queiroz, Cesar; Ishihara, Satoshi. 2011. Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Europe and Central Asia. Transport paper series;no. TP-33. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17458 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-09)The study is based on a new specialized dataset generated for the road sector contracts of Bank-financed projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is organized as follows: Chapter two describes the data and a set of indicators constructed to perform comparative assessments of the procurement and implementation processes across 13 African countries. Chapter three points out the trends in selected key indicators and performs an inventory of risks for each road works contract using a checklist of possible entry points of corrupt activities or red flags. Through comparison of the road works contracts that had complaints received by the Bank's Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) and other contracts in the sample, it examines if the data exhibit a pattern of indicators consistent with the presence of allegations of corruption or fraud. Chapter four looks at selected issues such as high bid rates, low response to invitation to bid, and cost and time overruns as they were addressed by the project implementing agencies. Finally, chapter five provides selected recommendations to enhance accountability and control of corruption in the road projects financed by the World Bank.Publication Performance-Based Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Contracts in Argentina : A Review of Fifteen Years of Experience (1996-2010)(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-09)The road sector is the dominant mode of transport in Argentina carrying nearly 80 percent of total freight volume. The road network has a total length of about 630,000 km (11 percent paved), divided in three administrative levels: national, provincial, and municipal. However, more than 70 percent of total traffic volumes are concentrated on the paved national and provincial network, with the municipal network consisting of unpaved roads, access roads to farms and feeder roads with very low traffic volumes. A survey carried out in 1992 confirmed that only 44 percent of the national paved network was in good condition, with a high 35 percent of roads in poor condition. Rehabilitation works for the non-concessioned portion were contracted to the private sector under the traditional ad-measurement type or unit price-based system while maintenance activities continued to be carried out by force-account. In 1993 a loan from the World Bank was approved to finance, for the first time, high priority rehabilitation and maintenance works on the non-concessioned paved network, leading to the development of a long-term maintenance strategy based on the gradual expansion of performance-based contracts, a modality that is currently being replicated in other countries around the world. This paper is organized as follows: chapter one presents the national road network of Argentina; chapter two gives origins and definition of the Contrato de Recuperacion y Mantenimiento (CREMA) contracts; chapter three gives evolution in the procurement and the design standards of the CREMA; chapter four presents the market's response to the CREMA system; chapter five presents impact of the CREMA on the condition of the national road network; chapter six deals with cost effectiveness of the CREMA system; chapter seven presents Bank's strategy and role in the road sector in Argentina; and chapter eight gives lessons learned.Publication Improving the Sustainability of Road Management and Financing in Armenia(World Bank, 2011-10-13)The objectives of this study are: 1) to identify weaknesses and challenges confronting the sustainability of road maintenance and rehabilitation management; 2) to determine to what extent these are linked to particular institutional and financing arrangements; and 3) to assess how these factors can be resolved. The Study makes a series of recommendations aimed at improving the sustainability of the management and financing of the road sector. First, the study provides an overview of the road sector and the condition of the road network. Then it turns to a review of road management and financing in Georgia. The study reviews the current institutional and technical arrangements, with regard to the ability to effectively plan, design, construct, and maintain the road network. It gives particular emphasis to the implementation arrangements for the road sector, including: budgeting; management and resources; technical standards in use; quality assurance and education/training; and provision of maintenance for different road classes. The findings of the study are timely. It is hoped that they will inform a policy discussion on the need to raise expenditures on the maintenance of the road network, and provide a roadmap for financing these needs in an efficient, cost-effective manner.Publication Road User Charges : Current Practice and Perspectives in Central and Eastern Europe(2008-11-01)This paper covers the most commonly used means to charge road users, including fuel taxes, vehicle taxes, vignettes and tolls. It presents a brief survey of road user charging systems in selected European countries and a more detailed overview of current status and perspectives of road user charges in Poland. Consideration is also given to private financing of roads through different forms of public-private partnerships (PPP), including a review of potential applications of the World Bank toolkit for PPP in highways as an instrument to help decision makers and practitioners to define the best PPP approach for a specific country.Publication Rethinking Infrastructure Delivery: Case Study of a Green, Inclusive, and Cost-effective Road Program in Nicaragua(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-06)This paper presents a development case study on alternative thinking in rural infrastructure delivery. Delivery in this case is achieved in a manner that advances the green growth, social inclusion and cost-effectiveness agendas. The need for green and inclusive approaches in reaching development goals cannot be overstated. At the same time, the use of public funds should ensure value for money and stretch government resources as far as they can go. Inclusion refers to the empowerment of all citizens to participate in, and benefit from the development process, removing barriers against those who are often excluded. The use of a community development approach is presented in this paper to demonstrate how this has been achieved on large scale and in a cost-effective way without compromising quality or timing. Heightened roles and responsibilities are conferred to the local target authorities and populations in this infrastructure delivery approach, and this experience is presented as a best practice that could be emulated in similar development work. On the technical front, most road infrastructure delivery in many countries is heavily mechanized and undertaken using default asphalt surfacing. This paper presents the adoption of an alternative and green paving material that is also cost-effective at the secondary rural road level.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication Business Ready 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03)Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.Publication A Blue Transformation for Pacific Maritime Transport: Overarching Regional Transport(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2023-06-29)This report has eight chapters. Following the introduction (Pacific Peoples and the Sea), the next six chapters each focus on a separate significant component of Pacific maritime transport, analyzing the major influences and challenges, and, where relevant, key areas for future attention. The topics are: international shipping, gateway ports, domestic maritime transport, four related sectors, cruise ship tourism, tuna fisheries, fossil fuel imports, and bulk shipping, natural disasters and climate resilience, and sector governance and institutions. The final chapter, transforming pacific maritime transport, ways forward, distils the report’s findings into the most significant and far-reaching opportunities to transform maritime transport in the Pacific. These are grouped into three broad themes, infrastructure, services, and governance and capacity building. Ways Forward comes at the end and, for readers unable to view the whole report, is a good place to begin. The rest of this executive summary explains why the Pacific is a special case for investment and provides a summary of the main chapters and findings. But first, it describes which Pacific Island countries contributed to the study.Publication Economic Recovery(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06)World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.Publication Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12)World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.Publication Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06)The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.